Lego Blondie

 

Lego Stones

 

Small things 28 January

• Whenever I buy a shirt for myself, I always get burned on one detail - no pocket. I have no use for a shirt with no pocket. Yet they haunt my shopping. Down with pocketless shirts!
• Butt dial. Booty call. Sound similar but are not.
• Anger and despair are the breeding ground of violence and extremism. The answer is to heal the minds of those filled with anger and despair. And to give them hope and love.
• Ghost cheeks: When you sit down on the toilet and feel the warmth of the previous occupant's butt cheeks.
• I don't think I've ever heard a straight man ever utter the words, "Can you believe she's wearing that same outfit again?"
• I'm not needy. I'm wanty.
• But mama, that's where the fun is...
• There's only one letter on a pirate's eye test chart.
• You know when you buy a bag of lettuce and it eventually gets all brown and soggy? Cookies don't do that.
• What do you call bears with no ears? B
• What do you call a bee from America? USB
• What do you call a belt with a clock on it? A waist of time.
• What do you get when a chicken lays eggs on a hilltop? Eggrolls
• What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.

Lego Dark Side of the Moon

 

Live mini concerts are the best

There are YouTube concerts that look good, ones that sound good too. Whoever the sound engineer is on this recording deserves an award, all stop.

The Bahamas live at The Woodshed performing select songs from the album Earthtones.

StarLink cats

 StarLink dishes have a built-in heater to melt the snow. Or keep cats warm...

Things I learned lately 28 January

• An owl's eyes are large in order to improve their efficiency, especially under low light conditions. In fact, the eyes are so well developed, that they are not eye balls as such, but elongated tubes. They are held in place by bony structures in the skull called Sclerotic rings. For this reason, an owl cannot roll or move its eyes - it can only look straight ahead!
• You know that feeling like you’re falling you get when you’re falling asleep? That happens because sometimes your muscles relax and your heart rate slows down too quickly that your body thinks you’re dying. So, it gives you that falling sensation which jolts you awake.
  
  
  
• Buying a car and financing it over 7 years is a horrible idea, because you'll be in negative equity long before you even get close to paying off the loan.
• The Oka-Hudson ferry, which is now self-propelled, used to be a barge towed by a towing boat. Before it converted in 2008, it was the last towed barge ferry in Canada.
• When Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs first opened in 1916, the owner hired people to dress as doctors and eat hot dogs outside his shop, to convince people his hot dogs were healthy.
• Certain oak tree populations will synchronize to produce almost no acorns, only to rain them down excessively the following year, known as a "mast" year. The year preceding the mast year is thought to starve off the mammal populations feeding on the acorns.
• Appian Way, one of the original Roman roads of the ancient republic, built in 312BC, is still in use today.
• The amount of garlic flavour is dependent on when you add the garlic. Add it early for light flavour, add it late for bold flavour.
• In the Netherlands, the disabled get money from the government to spend on 12 prostitutes per year.
• If you try to grab the brain in its natural state, it will fall apart. When you see scientists pick up a brain, they've used chemicals to harden it.

Lego Alladin Sane

 

I don't agree, but it is funny nonetheless

 

So as you can see, BC is pretty high. Wait...

 

A representation of elevation in Canada.

Getting stuck on a highway in an EV

Oh no! The pundits would have you believe that if you got stuck on the highway at a standstill during a snowstorm, like what happened in Virginia in early January, you would be in serious trouble if you were in an all-electric vehicle.

Dirty Tesla, a renowned Tesla owner who has made loads of YouTube videos on what it's like to be a Tesla owner, decided to put that suggestion to the test. He took a Model X with resistive heating, and a newer Model Y with the new heat pump technology, and see what would happen if you were stuck at a standstill for 12 hours.

He charged both vehicles to 90% state of charge. They had not recently been driven, so they were not already pre-conditioned. Outside, it was between 9F and 15F over the course of the 12 hour test. He set the HVAC in both cars to 70F and turned on the driver's seat heater on high.

After 12 hours, the Model X went from 90% to 47%, which means a full charge should last 28 hours. The Model Y went from 91% to 58% ($4.22 worth of electricity at 0.16 per kwh), which means a full charge should last 36 hours.

Stormtrooper paintball

 

Band or album names

Ideas for band or album names:

Up telescope

Coquihalla Mudslide (Inside BC joke)

Static Cat

Afraid of no goats

You're on mute

Vaxxed

Not another meme

Goes to 11

Han Sulu

Go home Karen

That's not a date!

 

I can't fax

 

Things I learned lately 21 January

• Lagrange points are places in relation to a planet and the sun where the forces acting upon an object are in perfect balance. They're like stable parking spaces for objects in space. The L4 and L5 Lagrange points of Jupiter host thousands of asteroids, called trojans.
  
  
  
• Allowing drivers to turn right on a red light leads to a 69% increase in crashes, many of which involve pedestrians. 
• There are already 10 countries in the world whose electricity comes from 97 to 100% renewable sources. Progress.
• Hormone-free eggs is a meaningless label, because hormones aren't used in egg producing chickens.
• Omega-3 eggs. Yeah, the chickens ate feed containing Omega-3, but that doesn't mean Omega-3 made it into the eggs.
• Cage free eggs. Meaningless. The chickens don't typically live in cages. They live in giant, overcrowded barns and likely never go outside.
• Free range doesn't have a strict legal definition. If a chicken had a hole to the outside that they could pop their head into, they could be classified as free range.
• Eggplants are berries.
• Plus sized models are often just regular models wearing fat suits so that their faces and necks are still skinny.

Small things 15 January

• We need to stop worrying about artificial intelligence and focus more on human intelligence.
• Back in the olden days, we'd throw rocks at a friend's window to get their attention. Now we have phones. Thank goodness kids aren't throwing phones at windows.
  
  
  
• I stopped believing for a little while this morning. Journey is going to be disappointed. I'm still holding on to that feeling though.
• Are young bobcats called bobkittens?
• You know it's going to be a fun month when the recruiter lines up an interview for you with the company that just fired you.
• Imagine if baguette rhymed with spaghetti.
• Here's a game you shouldn't play with your spouse. It's called 'Why are you doing it that way?'
• That ridiculous walk we do when someone's mopping the floor and you have to walk on it but you want them to see how sorry you are so you make yourself look like you're walking on hot lava.
• Himalayan salt may be a farce.
• Homeowner has the word meow in it. Good luck ever pronouncing that word correctly ever again. You're welcome.

Someone missed a chance to put a hat on the pyramid

 

Why do we call our planet Earth?

(condensed from howstuffworks.com)

The word "earth" has roots in the Old English term "eorþe." Eorþe also meant "soil," "dirt," "ground," "dry land" and "country."

Old English evolved from a parent language that scholars call Proto-Germanic. The German that's spoken today is part of the same linguistic family. "Earth" and "eorþe" are therefore related to the modern German word Erde. Erde can also be used to refer to dirt and soil.

Our dear Earth has relatives in some other languages, too. For example, there's the Old Saxon ertha, the Old Frisian erthe and the Dutch word aarde. All these likely descend from a Proto-Germanic term that was never recorded. 

Hey there! I gots fish if you gots honey....

 

Things I learned lately 15 January

• 1970 and 2022 are as far apart as 1970 and 1918.
• If someone complains about someone at Netflix behind their back, the person on the receiving end stops the conversation and tells the complainer they need to speak directly to that person.
  
  
  
• The Badfinger song "Come and get it" was written by Paul McCartney and he originally intended for it to be on Abbey Road.
• Ringo Starr's only drum solo on a Beatles record was in the song The End, on Abbey Road. It's also the only drum track recorded in true stereo.
• When a teenager goes to take the test for a driver's license, the car they use for the test determines what kind of license they receive if they pass. If you use an automatic vehicle, you get a license to drive automatic vehicles only. If you use a car with a manual transmission and pass, you get a license for either kind of car. If you get a restricted license for automatic only and then decide later that you want an unrestricted license, you have to take the test over again with a manual transmission.
• Canada has the largest wolf population in the world. There are somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 wolves in Canada.
• Kenny G was one of the original investors in Starbucks and has made more money investing than from his music career.
• Despite the widely held belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, there's no real data to back this up and the concept didn't gain traction until it was championed by a small group of religious fanatics and lobbyists for cereal and bacon companies in the late 19th century.
• Confelicity: taking joy in someone else's happiness.
• Apparently, watching a fire can lower your blood pressure.
• During WW II the US Army was aware that mail to soldiers was critical for morale, but overwhelmed with the volume and space it took to ship. So the resuscitated a British/Eastman Kodak method where every letter was photographed, and the film was shipped, then printed. It was called V Mail.

Be more like Betty

 

Asshole painter

 

Small things 8 January

• I figured that with all of our cold weather, we would finally reach a temperature where men would no longer wear shorts. I was wrong.
• I don't understand why the Justice League needs a plane. They can all fly or go fast! Well, except Batman...
• When Darth Vader makes toast, it's always a bit on the dark side.....
• Pillows of chicken topped with aged cheddar blended with tubular pasta with a tomato puree. Or as you'd call it: chicken nuggets with KD and ketchup on top.
• I'm not grossed out about haggis. I'm grossed out that someone once upon a time decided to try making haggis.
• Save $700 at Nordstroms by not going inside.
• Pie is 78% delicious and 22% also delicious.
• Invite someone to your office by phone or email. When they arrive, turn around in your chair and say, "I've been expecting you."
  
  
  
• Mars is the only planet inhabited solely by robots. But not for too much longer.
• Be nice to your stylist because what's stopping them from plucking one of your hairs and putting it at the crime scene? Nothing.
• Have you ever randomly cried because you've been holding shit in too long? Fiber helps.
• Maybe not a good idea to use the Marie Kondo method if you're chronically depressed. (Does this spark joy? No)
• Let's invent a method of travel that gets people to their destination faster by flying them at high speed in the sky. Also you will wait forever in many lines to get on the plane. And you will be packed like sardines. And the food will not be free. Nor will it be tasty. And you may never see your luggage again. But happy travels.
• The Snyder's Cut of Justice League may have set a bad precedent. It's just a matter of time before Peter Jackson releases Lord of the Rings Uncut. It will be 5.5 days long.
• Did it hurt? When I told you to Google it and I was right?

World's biggest French onion soup

 

Reducing emissions

We're expecting our governments to solve the climate crisis, but there are a lot of things we could be doing as consumers that, although small in scope, adds up when we all do at least a few of these things.

• Finding ways to use less hot water. Shorter showers, fewer baths, waiting for full loads before doing any kind of wash, using more cold water washes.
• Keeping furnaces in good order.
• Building better insulated homes and businesses. It doesn't cost much to build passiv haus grade homes, but we don't even have to be that good. Just better R-value in our walls, basement floors, windows and attics could make a huge difference at minimal cost.
  
  
  
• Electric vehicles, even taking the electricity source into account, create far less noxious fumes and carbon footprint than pretty much every ICE vehicle.
• White or light coloured roofs to cut down on AC needs in summer. Same with pavement to cut down on the urban heat furnace.
• Fewer trips to the store.
• Fewer trips by car.
• More use of transit. But also better transit period.
• Better ride share infrastructure and habits so we don't need to own giant trucks when we only use them to their full potential a few times a year.
• Reduce or even eliminate vehicle idling.
• Buy local to eliminate the transportation costs (in every way).
• Eat less red meat. (The carbon footprint of one cheeseburger is the same as 6 orders of fish & chips or 9 falafels)(A 75% reduction in meat and dairy consumption would be the same as eliminating ALL transportation emissions).
• Take fewer business flights.
• Shut off lights in unoccupied rooms.
• Work from home.
• Reduce plastics use, or at the very least, stop using single use or few use plastics.
• Share tools. Not every house needs to own every tool. Same goes for lawnmowers and snow blowers.
• Plant more trees. Not just in your yard, but in all unoccupied spaces, especially where people like to enjoy the outdoors. Besides, everyone likes shade.
• Community gardens.

Let it sink in

 

KP duty - not named after me

People have asked me, once they found out that I served in the military, if there is such a thing as 'KP duty'. There is. It's one of the kinds of extra duty punishments that the military can assign you when you get into trouble for doing something against the rules. It involves having to go to the mess hall (military kitchen) and report to the kitchen supervisor, who would assign you any number of nasty chores, from mopping floors to peeling potatoes to washing pots and pans. If you were lucky, the staff took pity on you and gave you a nicer job like putting food out or working the steam line.

I would then be asked if my initials being KP was just a coincidence and I had to assure them that yes, it was, although sometimes I didn't think my boss realized that for the number of times I'd get assigned KP duty. I'm not saying I got it a lot, but by the time I left the military I probably knew as much about how the kitchen worked as some of the cooks did.

Things I learned lately 8 January

• K-cups aren't widely accepted for recycling except in BC and QC. But you can buy compostable K-cups from some brands.
• WestJet's customer service has taken a huge dive recently. It's impossible to call a live human anymore. In fact, they do everything they can to hide their phone number from you now and encourage you to only call if you're flying in the next 72 hours. Not that it matters. You're not likely to get through even if you do call. I have heard about folks who waited over 12 hours before giving up and trying the call-back option. It's no better, as you get put on hold as soon as they call. There are people stranded because a flight was changed and they can't get through. If only there was a way to prioritize callers by like a membership number or something and use that to see if they are flying in the next few hours or days. 
• Tim Hortons Dubai sells rich milk cake.
  
  
  
• Tim Hortons Spain has a unique breakfast item - limited-edition chocolate and banana pancakes. Each pancake is layered with a decadent serving of chocolate spread, topped with freshly cut fruit and garnished with nuts and a side of whipped cream.
• Denis Villeneuve, the director currently known for Dune, has agreed to direct Arthur C Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, a movie Morgan Freeman has been trying to get made for over two decades.
• The town of Karuna, Sweden has to relocate part of itself further away from its iron mine because the ground will become unstable by 2035.
• The guillotine remained the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was abolished in 1981. The final guillotining took place on 10 September 1977 in Marseille when torturer-murderer Hamida Djandoubi was put under the blade. Djandoubi's death was the last time that the guillotine was used for an execution by any government.
• In the movie Finding Nemo, P. Sherman is an inside joke from the Filipino animators of Pixar. If you say fisherman in a Filipino accent, it sounds like P. Sherman.
• For the movie Interstellar, Christopher Nolan planted 500 acres of corn for the film because he didn't want to CGI the farm in. After filming, he sold the corn and made money for the budget.

WWI memorial

In Vacratot, Hungary